[ LETTER ]

Wed, Oct 09, 2013 - Page 8

The trouble with tourists

During a trip to Alishan, a Taiwanese tourist asked a group of Chinese tourists to keep their voices down and refrain from spitting. The Chinese tour guide shouted abuse at the Taiwanese, yelling: “Taiwan belongs to China.” A member of a Taiwanese tour group got into an argument with a Chinese tour guide at the airport, and was told that “this is Chinese territory.”

I am becoming concerned that when the Chinese tourist industry comes flooding in, it will monopolize the cross-strait tourism market. I fear that in any future problems or conflicts that arise between Taiwanese and their Chinese colleagues, it will be the Taiwanese who come off worse. Who will be there to stand up for the Taiwanese?

In a fiercely competitive market in which too many are vying for too few jobs, incomes of Chinese-speaking guides have plummeted in the past two years, and this is only going to get worse.

The cross-strait service trade agreement will be a disaster for Taiwan’s service industry. The winners will be big corporations and the Chinese. Taiwanese businesses do not stand a chance pitted against China’s might. The government should not try to force this pact upon us.

I suggest we do more to emphasize Taiwan’s national status and our own national awareness.

We could change the name of the Taipei Metro to the Capital Mass Rapid Network and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport should become the Taipei Capital International Airport. Hopefully, this will put an end to the increasing arrogance and rudeness displayed by some of the Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan.